Hydrology Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 I have a question... I currently have a Netgear wireless bridge/game adaptor connected to my 2700 which feeds it Net Radio and Streaming music from the PC. Works flawlessly. Now if I put another device in this room that doesnt have wifi built (say for example, a 20GB PS3), would it be simply a matter of buying one of those RJ45 2-way splitters or would I have to go for a dedicated switch/hub? At the PC I run a wireless router (LinkSYS) which has DHCP on. The simple splitter would be my preference, as its cheap and unobtrusive. Assuming it would work. Any thoughts?
bertzz99 Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 I'm no networking expert so excuse me if I give wrong advice, but I believe that the splitter is fine if you only use one device at a time. But if you want to use both at the same time you will need a hub or switch to coordinate the packets.
Greebs Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 I have a question...I currently have a Netgear wireless bridge/game adaptor connected to my 2700 which feeds it Net Radio and Streaming music from the PC. Works flawlessly. Now if I put another device in this room that doesnt have wifi built (say for example, a 20GB PS3), would it be simply a matter of buying one of those RJ45 2-way splitters or would I have to go for a dedicated switch/hub? At the PC I run a wireless router (LinkSYS) which has DHCP on. The simple splitter would be my preference, as its cheap and unobtrusive. Assuming it would work. Any thoughts? If it's the WGE111, unless Netgear have changed it, it only allows one device on it's side of the network (ie, a switch connected to it would only work for one of the devices). In other words, it won't work . Apparently the older WGE101 will work ok.
Hydrology Posted March 23, 2007 Author Posted March 23, 2007 If it's the WGE111, unless Netgear have changed it, it only allows one device on it's side of the network (ie, a switch connected to it would only work for one of the devices). In other words, it won't work . Apparently the older WGE101 will work ok. Yes it is the WGE111 - I only want one device connecting to the net at a time, and am looking for a simple solution as opposed to disconnectin/reconnectin each device every time I swap. So will the splitter or switch/hub work in that respect?
Greebs Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 I'm no networking expert so excuse me if I give wrong advice, but I believe that the splitter is fine if you only use one device at a time. But if you want to use both at the same time you will need a hub or switch to coordinate the packets. Yeah, a splitter wouldn't work in this situation, but because it's not really designed for this use. It's really only useful when you have 2 rooms which are connected with only one ethernet cable. You have one splitter at each end, and it breaks the 4 pairs of wires into 2x 2 pairs of wire (which is all that's needed for an ethernet connection) - have a look at this link (http://web1.instructables.com/pub/FQP/430D/FQP430DO1NEP27ZK4R.medium.jpg) - should explain it better if my words don't make sense .
Greebs Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Yes it is the WGE111 - I only want one device connecting to the net at a time, and am looking for a simple solution as opposed to disconnectin/reconnectin each device every time I swap. So will the splitter or switch/hub work in that respect? No, neither would work - you'd need to disconnect one of them physically (it may work with a switch with one of them turned off too, but I couldn't say for sure). What's the rest of your network consist of - a wireless router of some type to your broadband connection?
Hydrology Posted March 23, 2007 Author Posted March 23, 2007 No, neither would work - you'd need to disconnect one of them physically (it may work with a switch with one of them turned off too, but I couldn't say for sure). What's the rest of your network consist of - a wireless router of some type to your broadband connection? Cable Modem, Linksys Wireless Router PC (Hardwired) 360 (wireless - using the 360 wireless adaptor) RXV2700 (wireless - using the WGE111) If its not going to work then Ill live with physically disconnecting/reconnecting the WGE111 until a cheap one pops up on Ebay.
Greebs Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 If its not going to work then Ill live with physically disconnecting/reconnecting the WGE111 until a cheap one pops up on Ebay. You could buy a wireless bridge (and a switch if the bridge only had 1 ethernet port at the back which most do) and get rid of the existing WGE111, but honestly, what you've just said is probably the easiest solution. EDIT: had a bit of a look on the Linksys site - the Linksys WET54GS5 may do what you want in the long term...
nico6 Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Silly question(?) Don't all PS3s have 802.11b/g wifi?
Hydrology Posted March 23, 2007 Author Posted March 23, 2007 Silly question(?) Don't all PS3s have 802.11b/g wifi? The local 60GB models do, not the 20GB models, besides I didnt say it was defo a PS3 that was the other component!!!
nico6 Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 The local 60GB models do, not the 20GB models, besides I didnt say it was defo a PS3 that was the other component!!! Fair point Back on topic, from Greebs description of your current bridge, it seems it only supports one MAC address at a time. You might be able to use a small hub and tuck it away out of sight, as long as you only have one device on at a time...oops, suggestion fails here as I preseume you'll want that 2700 on all the time (maybe you can disable/enable its ethernet port on the fly via your (assumed) nifty programmable remote?)... Even so there might be a delay between connectivity while your bridge refreshes the incoming MAC address, and that also assumes it does this refresh 'frequently' (every few seconds max). that sounds complex for such a simple need - but that's where the fun is, hey
byte-me Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Cable Modem,Linksys Wireless Router PC (Hardwired) 360 (wireless - using the 360 wireless adaptor) RXV2700 (wireless - using the WGE111) If its not going to work then Ill live with physically disconnecting/reconnecting the WGE111 until a cheap one pops up on Ebay. Hey Mark What is the actual model Number of the Linksys Router?
Hydrology Posted March 23, 2007 Author Posted March 23, 2007 Hey MarkWhat is the actual model Number of the Linksys Router? WRT54GS v4.0, using the latest FW.
byte-me Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 I will look into this a bit further for you Mark but to my knowledge the WGE111 does not have multi device support which is why you would need to disconnect and reconnect to make it work as you have been doing. Adding a hub/switch will not benefit you either as it is only relaying the IP range sent to it via the routers DHCP and it will allocate an IP to the WGE111 with a device connected. Same goes for a splitter. When you switch the splitter it will not auto-negotiate again and it will still be trying to connect as the previous device which will inevitably lead to more drama than it is worth. As I said I will look into it a bit more for you but I do not think it is possible to share it with both devices connected at the same time. Dave Edit=Update Sorry Mark cannot be done. This taken directly from the manual. Note: The WGE111 can be used as a wireless game adapter with one machine only and does not support multiple devices.
nico6 Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Please see in-line in red - I will look into this a bit further for you Mark but to my knowledge the WGE111 does not have multi device support which is why you would need to disconnect and reconnect to make it work as you have been doing.Adding a hub/switch will not benefit you either as it is only relaying the IP range sent to it via the routers DHCP and it will allocate an IP to the WGE111 with a device connected. There is lot going on in the network before IP comes along. As I said, this is all about MAC addresses which are at Layer 2, not Layer 3 / IP. If there is only one device connected, that is, only one device sending a MAC at a time, and the bridge constantly searches for incoming MAC this can work as I described above ... As I said I will look into it a bit more for you but I do not think it is possible to share it with both devices connected at the same time. As I said, one device at a time... Dave I'll actually reinforce my suggestion now by saying that it will work because the 'one device at a time' scenario is proven. That is, the bridge does refresh its MAC table because a physical cable swap works without having to turn the bridge off and on. So this is all possible, very possible. All MarkH needs to do is work out how to dynamically start and stop his 2700B's ethernet port.
Hydrology Posted March 23, 2007 Author Posted March 23, 2007 All MarkH needs to do is work out how to dynamically start and stop his 2700B's ethernet port. As I dont think this part can be done, I think my choices are clear! Bugger! Thanks guys for all your help.
nico6 Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Now there's a challenge. I'll look for a link to the gazillion page RXV2700B manual... or you may have one handy?
AndrewW Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Now there's a challenge. I'll look for a link to the gazillion page RXV2700B manual... or you may have one handy? Don't bother, it can't be done. Andrew. edit: manual is here if you want to confirm yourself
nico6 Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Had a good look at the manual and, as you say, I can also see no way of disabling the network port in software. If you plan to update your network device/s go with something like what byte-me suggested. If you have a Joytech 254C AV Switch lying around, that also does ethernet 'single device' I/O switching on four of its inputs and you could use this just for your network needs. They are $111 from e-store these days, but possibly a bit of overkill to add another 19" component to the collection. Probably better to upgrade the network itself. (or get that 60Gig PS3 ) Happy networking P.S. Now that I've seen the 2700 manual, I want one, damn!!!
byte-me Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 As I dont think this part can be done, I think my choices are clear! Bugger!Thanks guys for all your help. Another option for you if possible is to hard wire the 2700 which would have the added benefit of increased throughput (from 54mb to 100mb) and would free up the netgear adapter for use on something else.
Greebs Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 P.S. Now that I've seen the 2700 manual, I want one, damn!!! Hehe - that makes 2 of us .
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